Humidifying apparatus



June 30, 1931. w.'B`ocK HUMIDIFYING APPARATUS Filed eb. v11. 1929 n. 9 Vv ii f lo L n FM IN V EN TOR.

Y .Patented 30,. 1931 ,UNITED sifisxrfis PATENT oFFicE 'Applicaties mea February 11,1929. smal No. ssases.

The principal object of the invention is to rovide an im roved humidifyin apparatus or the house old andotherpurposes.

- additional object is to provide an automatically 'controlled humidifier, whichuses the steam or. waterV from heatingy radiators. Other objects relate -to various features of construction and l arrangement of parts, which will become ap arent from a Iconsidd veration of the following description and ac.-

companying drawings wherein.r

. same parts in all the figures.

The casing of my humidifier is composed of a lower or base member 1and an upper member 18 and 15. 4 The base member comprises f a bottom with a recess 22, and a screwso orifice in a steam or hot water radiator 23. The circular wall of the case member 1 rises from the bottom "and is internall screwthreaded to enga e a thread on t e valve stem .guide 5. T is valve stem guide 5 is -used as guide for the valve 4 and is provided with a conical inlet and outlet for noiseless and complete expansion of the steam. This principle is employed in the well known Laval nozzle. The valve consists of an upper stem 6,'. a valve disc 4 and a' lower stem with a shoulder 3; A suitable spring 21 holds the valve disc 4 in closed position against the valve seat on the lower side of the valve stem The^vaporized water will increase the huthreaded nipple 2 adapted to engage a tapped The top guide 5. VThe valve 4 is made of a thermo tail-1s no steam'the cold valve 4 will decrease lts lengths so far that the valve disc 4-wi1l An be unable to close the outlet which allows the escape of undesirable air in the radiator. The upper stein of the valve 6 is provided 55 with longitudinal recesses which'give suilicient vspace for the outlet of the steam or'the l water. 'The valvestem guide 5 is provided with radial channels 7, through which the water'willqbedischarged to the outer surface of the external casing. ,By means of cohesion and avitation the discharged water .will ownwardsv over the plate 27 which is in thermal relation with the radiator ywall midity of the atmospheric air in the room. If, the heat of the` radiator is,l not sufficient to evaporize the water', it will be done by the container 28 which is electrically heated by heating elements 29. (See Fig. IV) The electric terminals` 30, of the container 28, are connected with the electric contact e. points 20. This Contact will be closed or 4opened by the prolongation 19 of the lever 8.

This lever is held in position upon a fulcrum 75 y 9, by the valve 4, the spring 21, and the test body 12. The test body 12, consists of thin .strlps of hygroscopic material, referably .leather strips which are separated y-spacing plates 13. (131g. 1.)' ,-This arrangement provides a very sensitive test body, or the control of the humidity of the atmospheric air.

The lower part of the test body 12 is held by a clamp 11, which isv connected by the pivot 10 to the lever 8,. The lever 8 is fulcrumed on a pivot 9. 4 The upper part of the test body 12 is held by anotherI clamp 14.` An adjust? ing screw 24 which engages the clamp 14 by a shoulder is inserted in ascrew-threaded hole 16 in the upper member 15 of the casing. The'adjusting screw y24 has a stop 25 limited by a pointerv 17. This arrangement' allows one turn only for the adjusting screw 24. part ofthe screw 24 is providedfwith a graduation 2'6".Eor direct adjustment of thel percentage of relative .humidity desirable in -the atmospheric air.' As shown, the test body 1 2 4is protected from heat radiation of the radiator 23 by a half round prolongation 18 of the casing 1. This protection member is made of heat insulating material, like bakelite, or could be provided with a layer of heat insulating material. (See Fig. III.)

The operation of my invention is 'as follows: Steam is admitted from the radiator 23 through nozzle 2 to the chamber surrounded by the lower casing 1. Vhen the test body 12 is dry from low humidity, valve 4 is forced down by the lever 8 and the steam passes to the interior of the lower base 1 from which it is conducted through the recesses of the upper stem 6 to the atmospheric air of the room. outlet of the valve stem guide 5, the discharged steam willexpand in the air without any annoying noise. The test body 12 is free to move longitudinally, except as limited by adjusting screw 24 and the holding clamp 14 and 11. As the relative humidity of the air increases, the vtest body 13 absorbs humidity and expands. Therefore, the pressure of the fulcrumed lever 8 against the valve 4 is released and the spring 21 closes the valve. F or regulating the humidity of the air by the test body 12, the adjusting screw 24 with a graduation of t-he relative humidity is set in such position, that the-graduation pointer indicates the desirable percentage of relative humidity, p.- e. -It is well known, that the atmospheric air in rooms with less than 40% relative humidity is destructive to human health. 1f the relative humidity of the air becomes lower than the relative humidity shown by the graduation on the top of the screw `24, the valve will be opened and steam released. The valve will be closed automatically, when the desired humidity of the air in the room is obtained. The thin strips of leather allowa very quick action of the controlling device. It is obvious that any suit'- able hygroscopic material may be employed for the vtest body.

During the operation of the radiator system, it is well known that under certain conditions air is trapped in the coils andlrnust be drained therefrom before the steam will ill the coils. Therefore-the valve lJr'should be independent of the humidit control` 12 before the steam will lill the ra iator. This is accomplished by constructing the valve 4 from a thermo-sensitive material, p. e. rubber, which has a greater coelicie-nt offexpansion than the surrounding casing 1. In cold condition the valve will decrease' its length,

. and held by its shoulder 3 in the recess 22,

it will be unable to close the outlet or to be 'infiuenced by variations of the test body.

Athe humidifynw device has at the same time the function ot` an automatic air valve for steam radiators;

On account of the conical inlet and The valve stem guide 6 is provided with radial channels for discharging water to the outer surface of the external casing and the plates 2i' and 28.l This improvement will be preferably employed for hot water radiators. The discharged water will-'vaporize on the plate 27 and increase the humdity'of the air. The water outlet' will be controlled by the test body 12 which closes the valve, when the desired humidity is obtained. F or rapid evaporation the discharged water Awill drop f on an electro-heated container 28. ,The heating elements of this electric vaporizer are controlled in dependence upon the test body 12. If the desired humidity is obtained, the

valve will close the water supply and the time of discontinuance of the water supply.

In addition 1 aim to use this electric device as a means to control` within predeterminable limits of humidity changes, signals, relays or other auxiliary devices for which a need may any time arise. It is understood that any kind of water supply may be used. It will be sometimes desirable to keep the humidit'ying device or the control mechanism at a certain .distance from the radiator or other water supply. y

Although I have shown certain features of my invention for the purpose of illustration. it will be apparent that various changes may be made therein wit-hout departing from the spirit of the invention and I do not wish to be restricted to the specific embodiments shown and described except as limited thereto by the appended claims. Y

I claim:

1. A humidilier for radiators comprising an external casing, a valve, means for controlling the valve in dependency upon the humidity of the atmospheric air. a valve stem guide. said guide having a conical inletv and outlet opening for complete expansion of the discharged steam.

2. In a humidifier the combination of, a radiator` an external casing connected with the radiator. valve means for discharging vwater from the radiator. said valve being controlled by a hygroscopic testbody supported by the external casing. means for evaporating the discharged water. said means consistingot a container connected with the external casing` said container being electrically heated.

3. An automatically controlled humidifier, comprising a casing adapted to be connected i with a heating radiator, a valve and a-hygrostat supported by the casing, the valve being connected to the'radiawr and controlled by the hygrostat so as to vent a portion of the heating mediuml from the radiator .to humidify the surrounding air, said hygrostat being protected from the heat of the radiator by means of the supporting casing. 4. A humidifier comprising in combination, a radiator, an external casing connected with the radiator, a hygrostat, a'valve controlled by thehygrostat, said hygrostat being protected from the heat of the radiator by means of a. heat insulating' material. f

5. A humidifier comprising in combination, a radiator, an'external casing connected with the radiator, a hygrostat, a valve controlled by the hygrostat, said valveconsisting' of a thermo-sensitive material so.- 'as tovent the air from the radiator.'

6. A humidifier comprising in combination, a radiator, an external casing connected with the radiator, a hygrostat, a valve controlled by the hygrostat, said valve consistingof a thermo-sensitive material so as to vent the air from the radiator and means for holding said valve in an opened position.

7. A' humidier-comprising in combination, a radiator, an external casing connected with the radiator, a hygrostat, a valve conlly heated container.

ter and means for controlling the heatingmedium.y 1 12.. An automaticall controlled humidifier comprising a' casing a apted to be connected with a water supply system, a Water discharging valve, an electricall` heated container connected with said casln and means for controlling the heating me ium, said means vconsisting-of a h grostat.

l 13. In a humidifier, the combination-of a water supplyv system, a casing with a valve for dischar ing water, said valve being controlledby a ygrostat, means forevaporating by the casin ,Y an elecsesv the dischargedwater, said means consisting `v of an electrically heated container.

14. A" humidifier comprising in combination, a radiator, an external casin connected with said radiator, a valve for ischarging.

water, said valve being controlled by a hygrostat, means for evaporating the discharged water, said meanscon'sisting of an electrical- WILHELM BOCK.

trolled by the hygrostat, said valve consisting of a thermo-sensitive material so as to 4vent the air from the radiator, and-means for holding the valve in opened position, said means consisting of a shoulder and a recess arranged the lower part'of the casing, and spring means, adapted to'keep the valve, after releasing the air from' the radiator, under control "of the hygrostat.

8.A A humidifier comprsing'in combina-v tion, a radiator, an externalcasing, connected with the radiator, a hygrostat, a valve controlled by the hygrostat, said valve consisting of a thermo-sensitive material said hygrostat comprising a plurality of thin strips of hygroscopical material and plates placed between the upperand lowerl end of the hygroscopic strips to increase the sensi' tivity of the hygrostat. 9. A humidifier comprising in combination a radiator, an external casing connected with k6' the radiator, a hygrostat, 'a valve controlled by the hygrostat, said valve consisting of a thermo-sensitive material, said lhygrostat having an adjusting screw with a graduation, to adjust the desirable humidity.

10. In a humidifier, the combination of a water supply system, an external casing conns f nected with said water supply system, avalve for discharging water, said valve being con, trolled by a hygrostat, means for evaporating the discharged water, said means consist- 

